Glenn Herdling is an Americanauthor, comics writer, and editor who has written numerous comic books, including Marvel Comics' Namor the Sub-Mariner series. He is also the author of the Piper Houdini series of young adult novels and a manualist.
As assistant editor to Jim Salicrup on Marvel's flagship Spider-Man titles, he was instrumental in acquiring the talent that increased circulation to a record 2.5 million copies. Herdling was promoted to Editorial Director of Marvel's Custom Publishing division and when the company went public in 1991, he developed the company's first Quarterly and Annual Reports, which were done as comic books. Herdling became the regular writer on Namor, the Sub-Mariner when his editor was reassigned to the book. According to Herdling, this abrupt change of plans was the reason why the first issue of his run, number 44, was an out-of-continuity story whose text was taken entirely from the poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner". He was enthusiastic about his run on the series and later confided that, before the series was cancelled, he had been planning a follow-up story arc to "Atlantis Rising" called "Deities of the Deep" which would have pitted Namor against the Norse godÆgir. In 1996, Herdling became the Creative Director at Spiderwebart Gallery, which engaged in traditional book publishing, packaging, and design. The company also represents artists on an exclusive basis, particularly the renowned fantasy painters, Greg and Tim Hildebrandt. In 1999, Herdling became Wizard Entertainment's Director of Business Development and supervised the launch of its new comic book division, Black Bull Entertainment. In May 2005, he received a Master of Science Degree in Publishing from New York University where he was awarded the Condé Nast Award in Magazine Publishing. Herdling has since worked as a communications specialist in the healthcare and financial sectors. He has contributed to numerous published works and has written over 80 comic books. In 2015, he published his first novel, Piper Houdini: Apprentice of Coney Island and followed it up a year later with a sequel, Piper Houdini: Nightmare on Esopus Island. In 2016, Herdling launched a YouTube channel where he performs a variety of popular songs using manualism: the art of playing flatulent tones by squeezing air through his hands. The selections include a number of Christmas carols.
